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Traditionally, this word is seen as borrowed from Gothic𐌴𐌻𐌰(ēla, “awl”), perhaps via Old Prussianylo(“awl”). The Gothice was very narrow (tense), so it was replaced by ī when borrowed. This loanword is first mentioned in 17th-century dictionaries. A more recent theory, however, connects īlens to ilknis(“fang, tusk”), ilkss(“shaft”), and with Hittiteilluyanka(“dragon; snake”), where il- apparently refers to something sharp (fang, horn, stinger), in which case īlens might be a retention rather than a borrowing, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European*eil-, *il-, *īl-, from *ei-, *h₁ei-(“sharp, pointed”), via a probable Proto-Baltic*īl- + -ens.[1]